Supernatural Superheroes
by JustJustine014
Summary: Emma and Gia have been feeling sick ever since they were caught in the explosion. Weeks passed by, but why did they still feel so ill?
1. A Sick Feeling

Gia woke up with a sick feeling in well… everywhere. Truth be told, she had been feeling a bit ill for a long time. She couldn't explain what was wrong, she just felt like something was a bit off. It was like something needed to be let out. Gia felt something stir in her stomach and rushed to the bathroom. Moments passed as Gia hovered over the toilet, but nothing came out. The ill feeling quickly went away so Gia decided to see how Emma was doing. She had told her that she was feeling the same way, but maybe Emma found a way to make it go away.

Gia got up and slowly made her way to Emma's room. Luckily, it was also upstairs and just across her room so it didn't take too much effort. She opened the door and found her friend in a similar position as her. Emma was hidden under her blankets while her trash can was full of used tissues.

"How're you holding up?" Gia asked. Emma's head popped out her blanket and she looked to her best friend with tired eyes. She pointed to her trashcan.

"Does that answer your question?"

"I guess we're both still feeling it." Gia sighed as she sat on the edge of Emma's bed.

"What do you think it is?"

"I really don't know."

"It had to start from somewhere." Emma began to push herself up, allowing her back to rest on her bed's headboard. "There's no way that something this bad randomly popped up from nowhere."

"Maybe someone from school passed it on to us?"

"And then it lingers for almost a month?" Gia said. "I don't think this is some ordinary flu."

"Okay, so we started feeling it about a month ago. What were we both doing a month ago?"

Emma's face fell when she thought about her own question. A month ago they were fighting against each other due to Vrak's doings. Everything she went through during that time had been one of the worst experiences in her life. She was forced to live with the memory of fighting her closest friends and then had to survive an explosion. To add to that, she also had to defend herself from Troy's accusations and willed herself to move on from the first boy she liked. In other words, it sucked.

"Wait a minute," Gia's eyes widened as she thought about Emma's question. "The both of us were in that explosion, remember?"

"I wish I could forget." Emma muttered. "I can still feel some of the burns from the bomb. And by the way, you need cut back on the smoothies from Ernie's. "

Gia rolled her eyes at her comment and continued with her thoughts. "The bomb could've gotten us sick!"

"Gia, I don't think the heat from the explosion would get us sick."

"But it wasn't an ordinary bomb, remember."

Emma's stomach turned as she realized what Gia was saying. The bomb had radioactive elements fused into it in order to cause more damage. Vrak had done his research on humans and knew that the radioactivity could do severe damage to the body. His plan was to use it against _human_ rangers.

"We need to get this checked out now. Maybe Tensou can take a look at us." Gia suggested. "Especially before anything serious happens."

Emma nodded and peeled herself out of bed. The two of them went through their backpacks and pulled out their morphers. Before they went to the command center, Emma checked the door to make sure no one was coming. There was no sight of anyone so the two girls teleported out of their rooms.

Once they got there, they found Tensou typing away on a console. They made their way over to their little robot friend. "Hey Tensou, can you do us a favor?"

"What do you need?" Tensou asked.

"Do you mind scanning us for any abnormalities? We've been feeling a bit sick for awhile."

"Sure, just give me a second." Tensou wheeled over to his table and grabbed a few of his scanners. He was programmed to not only create ranger technology, but to care for the rangers too. When the rangers couldn't go to the doctors due to their ranger secret, they would have to go to Tensou instead. The doctors would only question their injuries and it wasn't like they could tell them that they were fighting aliens every day. "You can take a seat there, but stay still."

Tensou waved his wand over the girls, but couldn't find anything wrong with them. Their temperatures were normal, their blood pressure was fine, and there didn't seem to be any indication of an infected wound. He couldn't give them an answer.

"When did you start feeling like this?"

"Right after Vrak's bomb exploded."

"Oh no," Tensou started to panic. "I didn't think about this possibility."

"What're you talking about?" Gia asked worriedly. Even for a robot, the anxious emotion could still be heard in his robotic voice.

"You're human!" Tensou exclaimed.

"Yeah…"

"The radiation from the bomb can affect you. I didn't think about that!" Tensou wheeled around frantically. "When I checked your vitals, I didn't check you for radiation poisoning. Unlike robots or aliens, you humans are affected by it greatly. I can't believe I didn't think about it! I…I…"

"Tensou!" Emma called out. The panicked robot snapped out of it and looked to the girls apologetically. "It's okay, we'll be fine. Just tell us how to cure it."

"I'm so sorry." He looked down at the floor. "I don't know."

"How can you not know?

"I don't know how this is going to affect you. It's different for every human. In fact, you two should be dead! You were exposed to that radiation without any treatment for hours."

"Dead?" Gia's eyes widened. Sure she felt a little sick, but she couldn't imagine dying from this.

"Hold still while I run a few more tests."

Both girls nervously nodded and watched as Tensou continued to scan them. Suddenly, Gia started scrunching her nose in discomfort.

"Yellow ranger, you need to stay still!"

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I really need to sneeze!" Gia explained. "I can't hold it in anymore."

Right after Gia spoke, a loud sneeze came out from her and the ground surrounding the command center shook. After stabilizing themselves, the three of them looked to each other with confused looks on their faces. Earthquakes never hit Harwood, and would never be as sudden as what they just experienced.

"What just happened?" Emma asked.

"I don't know, but I feel so much better." Gia sighed in content. Emma looked to her friend and stared as a thought came into her head.

"What?" Gia noticed the weird look Emma was giving her. It was the look she put on when she was trying to figure something out.

"Do you think that tremor came from you?"

"Okay, I know my sneeze was loud, but I don't think it would be strong enough to shake this huge building."

"But you feel better now, right?"

Gia paused for a moment and realized that the icky feeling was completely gone. It was no longer lingering like it had been before. Whatever she needed to get out of her system was finally out.

"And yet I still feel like I want to throw up." Emma furrowed her brow. Something was going on, she just didn't know what. Emma groaned, "Ugh, where's Noah when you need him. He might be able to help us figure this out."

Just then, Gosei's face lit up in the front of the command center. "I think I may have the answer for you, pink ranger."

"And you didn't say anything ten minutes ago because…"

"I was not sure if my theory was correct. But I think your yellow ranger just proved it."

"Okay so what's happening to us?"

"Under normal circumstances, you two should definitely be dead. The exposure to that level of radiation would've killed you two. It's the reason why I held back the remaining rangers in the command center. The level of radiation was too dangerous for them to go back out."

"Well that's great." Gia rolled her eyes. She was starting to get a bit annoyed with her supposed ranger mentor. It was literally a giant tiki head plastered onto the wall and all it did was show up late.

Gosei ignored her sarcasm and continued with his explanation. "But luckily, Emma was morphed when the impact of the explosion happened. The ranger suit kept you and Emma from being killed, but it seems like the slight exposure left something behind in your bodies."

He looked to Gia. "That sneeze triggered your new powers. It was building up inside of the two of you the entire time. It is probably the reason why you felt sick. The built up power didn't have a proper outlet so it caused fatigue and nausea.

"Are we talking about new ranger powers?"

"No, elements from the radiation somehow managed to bond with your DNA. Instead of it killing you, it gave you supernatural enhancements. Based on what I witnessed earlier, it seems like Gia has the ability to manipulate the earth."

"So I can pretty much use the Gosei power cards without having to morph." Gia said. "Cool."

"If Gia can control the earth, then does that mean I'll be able to control the air?" Emma questioned.

"It is highly likely, but not I'm certain. Like Tensou said, the effects will be different for everyone. However, you took in a lot more radiation than Gia. There is a chance that you will have more than one power."

"Then why don't you sound too pleased?"

"Gia didn't get too exposed because you were covering her the entire time. However, you absorbed it all in instead; therefore, you will probably experience a few side effects after the discovery of your new powers."

"What kind of side effects?"

"I do not know. You will to find that out for yourself." Once again, Gosei's face dimmed away, signaling that he gone.

Emma groaned at his response. Her question was answered, but in the end, it left her with a million more. Now she had to face the fact that she would have to live with these powers for the rest of her life. It didn't seem too bad, but what worried her were the mysterious side effects. Gosei never said if they were good or bad. Emma didn't want to believe what Gosei saying was true, but then again, a few months ago, she would have never believed in aliens or that she would become the next pink ranger.

"Hey, it'll be okay." Gia wrapped a comforting arm around her friend. "You'll be fine. Nothing is going to happen to you. Just look at the bright side, we have some pretty kick ass powers now. The aliens won't know what they have coming."

"But I don't even know how to trigger mine." Emma whispered. And I don't think I want to."

"Why not? We'll be the best super powered heroes this world could ever ask for."

"I'm afraid of what the side effects can do. There's a chance that it'll do more harm than good."

"Oh…" Gia breathed. She realized that her friend was right. Gosei never said that the side effects would be good. For all she knew, it could kill her best friend. She pulled Emma in a bit closer and let her head rest on her shoulder. "We'll figure it out eventually. Until then, try not trigger your powers."

"I don't even know how, so I think we're good for now."

"I can continue running some tests to predict the possible side effects." Tensou suggested.

"That would be great." Emma gave him a thankful smile. But before Tensou continued his examination, Emma needed to ask one more question. "Was anyone else exposed to the radiation?"

-Power Problems-

Troy woke up in cold sweat as another dream forced him to open his eyes. For several weeks, Troy would lose several hours of sleep due to these mysterious visions. He didn't know why he kept dreaming of it, he just did. In every single dream, he saw several unrecognizable rangers fighting in some sort of giant war. And by the looks of it, his team was in the front leading it.

He didn't understand what any of his dreams meant, but he was worried that it would become a future. If there was going to be a war, then that meant that he was going to be having his ranger career for a very long time. He loved being a ranger, but there were times that he missed being a regular teenager. He wouldn't have the weight of the world on his shoulders. He wouldn't have to worry about making life threatening mistakes. He could just be a carefree teenager. The most stressful thing he would have to do is submit a college application during his senior year. Now he had to worry about some sort of war?

Troy shook his head in disbelief, hoping that his dream would stay a dream. There was no way something that big could happen. Plus, he didn't remember seeing any armada ships in the Warstar Empire's arsenal. Things didn't add up so by using logic, he assumed that his dream had to be fake. Maybe it was just the stress reflecting into his mind. But for some reason, he still couldn't shake off his dream.


	2. Still Human

"So what are we here for?" Jake asked with a tired yawn. He remembered being called in the middle of the night by Tensou. He was asked to come to the command center, but wasn't told why. All Jake knew was Gosei requested for all the rangers in for a team meeting.

"I'll answer that." Tensou rolled in happily. "The pink and yellow rangers have developed supernatural abilities due to extreme radiation exposure. They should be dead, but the ranger suits protected them from the brunt of the attack. Instead, a bit of radiation seeped into their body and caused an ill feeling due to having it all being stored up. Somehow, the yellow ranger managed to release the power through a sneeze and we figured out that she now has control over the element of earth. However, we haven't figured out the pink ranger's ability and because she took in most of the radiation, there is a high chance that there will be a side effect once she triggers her power. It could be life threatening, or something just as simple as a onetime sneeze, just like the yellow ranger."

The boys' jaws dropped and their eyes widened. They couldn't believe what they were hearing and looked at each other with puzzled looks on their faces. Finally, Noah broke the silence.

"Fascinating." Noah couldn't help but let his geeky side take over. The only people with supernatural abilities like that were the superheroes he read in his comics. Although he was technically considered a superhero, he only gained his powers through a morpher. Without it he was completely human. Now he was seeing two genetically altered humans in front of his own eyes. It was amazing. "Tensou, you have to let me study whatever information you have on those two. In fact, we should run some tests! This is a scientific breakthrough!"

Gia crossed her arms and then slapped Noah on the stomach. "Noah, we're still human."

"Yeah, but you're not normal humans anymore! You're like a hybrid now!"

"I know right. Man, I wish I had superpowers. Things would be so much easier." Troy mumbled.

"Guys, we're human, just slightly different. Get it together!" Gia said with an annoyed tone. She felt as if they were looking at her as an experiment. The more they spoke, the more irritated she got. It was like they completely disregarded what Tensou said earlier. They had almost died in order to get them, and Emma's life was still at risk. There was no time for their wishful thinking.

"Sorry, sorry." Noah said sheepishly. "All of this is just amazing. Think about all the things you can do with your superpowers now!

"We prefer the term, enhanced abilities! And sure, I can move rocks and shake the ground, big deal." Gia rolled her eyes. "You guys are missing the point. Think about all the things this can do this to us." she then pointed to the worried Emma who was sitting down. "Think about what this can do to her. You heard Tensou, if she taps into the power, she can die!"

Jake saw the worried look on Gia's face and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Instead of pushing Jake away, she looked up to him and accepted the gesture.

"She right, Noah." Jake spoke. "We should be focusing on a way to help Emma. They aren't one of your science experiments. They're still human and they are our friends. Whether they're human or not shouldn't even matter."

Noah's demeanor seemed to change as he started to understand the serious situation they were in. He looked to Gia apologetically. "I'm really sorry; I guess I just got a little carried away. Here, I can try and help Tensou with the research. Maybe we'll be able to figure out more together."

"Finally, something I can agree with."

While Noah and Tensou got to work, Gia walked over to Emma who was quietly sitting down on one of the stools Tensou set up for them earlier. She noticed that her hands were clasped tightly and was staring out into space.

"You'll be fine." Gia assured her. "Tensou and Noah will take care of it."

"I think I'm starting to feel even sicker." Emma shook her head and got off of her stool, favoring the ground better. At least this way, she could lean up against the wall. She could feel her stomach turning and the room began to spin.

"Maybe you can take her home." Jake suggested.

"That's not a bad idea, Jake." Gia agreed. "Hey Tensou, does Emma need to stay here in the command center?"

"Nope, I have everything I need already. You're free to go."

"Let's get you home then." Gia signaled for Jake to help her get Emma up. The both of them got Emma to her feet and then teleported back into Emma's room. Gia gently placed Emma in her bed and draped the blankets over her.

"Do you need anything?" Gia asked.

"I'm good, thanks though."

Gia nodded and turned to face Jake. "Thanks helping me bring her home."

"Anytime! Well, uh… not that I would want Emma to need to be helped home all the time. It's just…um," Jake scratched his head as he struggled to find the right words to fix his mistake.

"Don't worry, I get it." Gia chuckled. "But you should probably get out of here before my parents see you. If they catch a boy in their house, I'll never hear the end of it. You can leave through the window. Just use the tree to make your way down." she pointed to the open window near Emma's desk. Outside, there was a large tree with think branches that Emma would always use to climb in order to sneak home after battles. It was within arm's reach and was sturdy enough to climb. In this case, it was the perfect getaway route for Jake.

Jake nodded and carefully made his way out the window and down the tree. Once he was down, he waved goodbye and sped off into the night, eager to make it home before his parents noticed anything. Gia watched him go with a smile

"What?" Gia caught the smirk Emma was giving her,

"You so like him."

"I do not!" Gia proclaimed with a frown. "C'mon Emma, Jake? Really? We both know he's liked me since freshman year, and we both know that I have no feelings towards him whatsoever.

"You're defensive and in denial. I saw the look you gave him when he left. It was special."

"I don't like him! You've known that for years."

"People can change their minds, Gia." Emma snickered. "Plus, you've gotten to know him a lot more ever since we became rangers. You know, he's not a bad guy. Back there, he was the only one who seemed to understand what you were saying, he even backed you up. Jake can surprisingly be really sweet when he wants to."

"Are you sure you're not the one who's crushing on him."

"Are you sure you're not the one who has a crush on him?" Emma shot back with a smirk. Gia rolled her eyes and was about to leave the room, but paused at the door.

"And what if I do?" Gia asked.

"Don't ask me." Emma shrugged. "Look at what happened between me and Troy. I'm not saying that you should go out with him, but I do know that unsaid feelings can get you into a lot of trouble. But hey, I'm confident that things will work out better for you and him than it did for me and Troy."

Gia bit her lip as she exited Emma's room, only to be left with her own thoughts. "What if I do like Jake?"


	3. The Cost of Power

Emma's eyes shot open at the sound of her morpher going off. Growing up, she had always been a light sleeper which was both a blessing and a curse. It didn't take anything more than a simple alarm clock to wake her up; however, even the slightest of sounds would stir her from her sleep. She remembered ruining Gia's surprise birthday wakeup call after hearing her open the door, which then caused her to immediately wake up and see the cake early. Ever since then, Gia had to find other ways to surprise her best friend.

Recognizing the familiar sound, Emma realized that there must have been a monster attack going on. She spotted Gia as she passed by her room, giving her the look that confirmed her suspicions. Emma slowly peeled herself out of bed, still feeling the raw power inside her lurking. Though she felt ill, she wasn't going to let that stop her from helping her friends. She rushed out the door, but was stopped by Gia's parents.

"Where's Gia going?" Mrs. Moran asked. Jennifer and Matt had come out of their rooms just in time to see Gia leave the house. Both parents were curious to why Gia was leaving the house so early and without saying a word.

Emma bit her lip nervously as she tried coming up with an excuse. She hated lying to the Morans. They were the people who took her in and cared for her after the events with her father. They had no biological ties to her, yet they still looked after her as if she was a part of their family. Emma wished that she could tell the truth, but she knew the risks.

"We're umm… going to Ernie's BrainFreeze! We're meeting up with a few of our friends from school." Emma said a bit too excitedly.

"You're going to get frozen yogurt this early on in the morning? Mr. Moran questioned with a furrowed brow. He looked at the clock and saw that it was only eight in the morning. The girls always went there, but even Mr. Moran knew that it was a bit too early for a frozen treat for anyone.

"It's just the place where we're meeting up. All of us know where it is, so we decided that it would be the best place for us to meet up."

"For what?"

"Just a project for school. We need to do a few experiments and record the data." Emma continued on with her lie. She took a quick glance at the door, eager to leave. She was already going to show up late to the battle and not knowing what was happening to the team made her nervous.

"Well alright," Matt said. "Just let us know next time." Emma nodded her head, gave them both a quick hug, and then left the house. She ran to the coordinates that were sent to her, hoping that she didn't miss too much. After Emma left, Matt and Jennifer looked to each other with confused looks. "Should we be worried?" Matt asked.

"I'll admit that was a bit weird," Jen nodded her head. "But they're good girls, Matt. They wouldn't lie to us, right?"

"I trust them, but maybe we should keep a closer eye on those two."

"Agreed."

-Power Problems-

From a distance, Emma could see the battle take place and so far, it wasn't looking too good for her friends. By the looks of it, they were getting beaten by an oversized purple snake.

Emma morphed and hid quietly behind a bush. Luckily, no one had spotted her yet and hoped that it would stay like that long enough for her to figure out a plan. She knew that if she jumped in now, she would easily get defeated. There was no way she could take on a bunch of loogies and a monster at the same time. Emma felt torn; she wanted to help her friends, but she couldn't do anything if she was outnumbered.

Then, Emma saw the monster advance on Gia, who was already on the ground. She was covered in some sort of sticky goo and seemed like she was having a hard time getting up. As a matter of fact, none of them could get up. Emma was way too far from Gia, but she knew she had to do something. The monster seemed to be charging up for a move that would surely finish off Gia. Emma wouldn't allow that.

"Gia!" Jake yelled. Like Gia and the rest of the other team, they were all incapacitated from the effects of the monster's goo. He tried several times to get up and help her, but his attempts were futile. He could barely feel his legs or his arms.

Emma was about to break her cover to distract the monster, but then the sick feeling started to build up again. She fell on one knee and winced as a growing pain rose throughout her entire body. With one eye barely opened, she could only watch hopelessly as the monster stood over Gia. Flashbacks of her mother overwhelmed Emma's mind. Tears threatened to fall as she remembered having the same exact helpless feeling.

" _NO!" Emma screamed. "You can't do this mom! Dad needs you! I need you! Please, don't die!" Every bone and muscle in Emma's body protested in overwhelming pain, but Emma willed herself closer to her mom. She pressed her hands onto the huge gash on her mom's side in an attempt to stop the bleeding, but the blood quickly seeped through her fingers. She could only watch as her mother slowly bled out. By now, Emma was crying hysterically and hoped that someone saw what was happening so they could call 911._

"No, not again." Emma whispered to herself. Without knowing why, Emma instinctively raised her hand and when she opened her eyes, there was a clear semi-circle bubble in front of Gia. She didn't really know what she was doing, but she guessed that she just triggered her powers. At this point, Emma didn't care about the side effects. She was just relieved that her friend would be okay. Emma wouldn't let a loved one die in front of her eyes again. Never again. However, the longer Emma kept the forcefield up, the more exhausted she began to feel. She could feel her energy draining and a sharp pain in her arm made it harder for her to focus.

From a distance, Gia watched as the attack from the monster was suddenly stopped. The monster's last attack sapped all of their energy to the point of complete exhaustion. Somehow, a random shield formed in front of her just in time to block the deadly finisher. Gia looked around to see what could have possibly stopped it and saw Emma around the corner. Her hands were stretched out towards Gia, but she seemed to be struggling. Her eyes widened as she realized that Emma used her powers without getting the clearance from Tensou. As soon as the monster backed away, the forcefield disappeared and Emma collapsed, demorphing in the process. Hisser, which was the monster's name, was angry at the fact that he didn't get to finish off his prey. He looked around to see what could've stopped him and found a passed out girl on the floor.

"Ooo, easy pickings." Hisser licked his slips and made his way towards Emma, ignoring the other rangers who were finally starting to get up.

"Emma!" Gia screamed. She wasn't supposed to use her powers, but she took the risk anyways in order to save her. Gia's knuckle turned white as her anger flared up.

"I'll take the monster, you guys take the loogies."

The boys saw the anger in her eyes and agreed to her command. To be honest, they were just too afraid to decline. Gia looked like she was ready to kill, and they didn't want to be one of her victims. The boys quickly broke off and took down their designated loogies one by one. On the other hand, Gia ran towards Hisser with her tiger claw out. She swiped across his back before he could reach Emma and attacked him relentlessly. The monster tried to spit his venom again, but Gia wasn't going to allow it to happen a second time. She dodged the attack and counteracted with a strong kick, causing the monster to fall down. Gia jumped on top of him and stabbed its chest with her weapon. For a moment, Gia backed away and her body emitted a soft yellow glow. A huge chunk of dirt mixed with rocks from the ground was lifted up into the air, and then dropped onto the monster. She immediately backed away and the monster exploded seconds after.

"I hate mutants." she mumbled. Gia ran towards Emma and checked for a pulse. She breathed a sigh of relief when she found one, but was still worried about the consequences. Obviously there was a side effect and it didn't seem too friendly. On the other hand, the boys finally finished off the remaining loogies and met up with Gia.

"After all this, I think I want to change my zord. I never want to see another snake in my life." Jake said as he walked up to them, not realizing that Emma was unconscious.

"Woah, what the hell happened?" Noah pointed to Emma.

"I don't know! She just collapsed after making that force field thing."

"You mean that bubble? She was the one who made that?" Troy asked.

"I don't care what you call it. We need to get Emma back in the command center now! Tensou should know what to do."


	4. Wake Up Call

Hours had passed since Emma collapsed after the discovery of her new abilities. The rangers paced around the command center nervously, waiting for any sign of her waking up. Though Tensou assured them that she would fine after some time to recover, that didn't stop them from worrying. According to Tensou's examination, the only side effect would be exhaustion along with having to limit herself to how much power she could use. He discovered that when Emma equipped the forcefield through her hand gestures, it caused the surrounding air particles to combine together tightly, forming an invincible wall. After all, atoms can't be created nor destroyed. However, if she overused her powers, then the unexpected strain would cause some muscle damage. If Emma wasn't careful, it could be a permanent injury.

Gia silently got up and made her way to the hospital wing. She felt responsible for all of this. If she didn't get captured, then all this wouldn't have happened. Emma wouldn't have had to risk her life and absorb the radiation that caused their powers. Then, she wouldn't have to worry about whether her powers would hurt or help her. She wouldn't have to constantly experience the exhausting side effects of using an ability that should've helped her. And yet here she was lying in the command center's hospital bed. She Having new powers were great, but not at the cost of her best friend's health. She would give it all up in an instant if it meant that Emma would be okay.

"She'll be okay." Jake said as he walked into the room. He noticed that Gia still seemed worried and decided to follow her to make sure she was alright. Her reaction was expected, but he could sense that there was something more. Something that she wasn't saying.

"I don't want to talk right now, Jake."

"Then don't talk. You do your thing, and I'll just sit right here." He replied, pulling up a chair right next to her.

"What do you think you're trying to do?"

"Making sure you're okay."

"I'm not the one who's lying on the hospital bed."

"You know," Jake said. "This isn't your fault."

Gia looked at him, surprised for a moment. It was as if he was reading her mind. She quickly turned away, setting her eyes on Emma. The same guilt washed over her once again as she thought about how this could've all been avoided. All she had to do was escape. But she was too weak and got captured instead.

"It is my fault!" Gia growled. "I could've done something to help us escape from Vrak. I should've done more!

"Could've, should've, would've, blah blah blah." he looked at her, straight in her eyes. "Gia, I was there too! If anything, this is my fault."

"Jake…"

"No, Gia. You're not going to blame yourself for this! If you're gonna blame someone, then blame me." he said with a serious face, signaling that he wasn't going to back down. "I was the one who had his morpher stolen. If I didn't let it slip away from me then we would've had a fighting chance. You were counting on me and I let you down."

"No!" Gia exclaimed loudly. She didn't want someone as good as Jake to blame himself for something that wasn't his fault. There was no way that she would let him think that for even a second. She realized that her tone was a bit too harsh and lowered her voice. "It's not your fault."

Jake's face softened at the sound of Gia's voice. Even though she didn't say it, he could hear the anxiousness and guilt when she spoke. Thinking that his words upset her a bit too much, he reached out towards her hand. "If it isn't my fault, then it's not yours either. Gia, please stop beating yourself up, it'll only make it worse. What happened to her had nothing to do with you."

Gia faced Jake, her heart melting at the look she gave him. How could she refuse that look? The way he way he comforted and talked to her settled her mind. Unlike other high school guys who simply dated for image, Jake seemed to have genuine care. Besides her parents and Emma, there was no one else who would go out of their way just to make sure she was okay. The way he made her feel was special.

Without knowing why, Gia leaned in towards Jake, landing a kiss on his lips. Jake's eyes widened in shock, but soon closed them and embraced the kiss. Moments passed and the both of them parted for air with a smile. Gia was relieved that Jake didn't seem mad. She knew that Jake liked her, but the sudden kiss was a big step. She wouldn't be surprised if he rejected it. Gia herself was shocked that she succumbed to such a sudden impulse.

"You're not mad?" Gia asked.

"Why would I be mad?" Jake smiled. As a matter of fact, he was flipping out in the inside. The girl he had been courting for two whole year finally returned his feelings. It was a dream come true for the black ranger. If Gia wasn't in the room watching him, he would be jumping for joy. Saying that he was happy would've been an understatement.

"I think I'm going to puke." A voice said. Confused, Gia and Jake turned to the sound of the voice and found Emma lying on her bed wide awake.

"Well, that's one way to wake up." Emma continued. Her eyes were open and she was attempting to get up slowly. "Not the way I wanted to, but I guess it could've been worse."

"Emma!" Gia called. She quickly broke away and helped her friend sit up.

"Uh…" Jake started. He was slightly afraid of what Emma thought about their little encounter. She still seemed a bit out of it, but he knew that nothing would save him from the wrath of a pissed off pink ranger.

"Yup."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, I saw and heard all of that."

"So you saw the…"

"Yup, I woke up to some interesting desert in my face." Emma snickered. "I have to say though; it took you guys long enough!"

"You're not upset?" Jake questioned. He was sure he would probably regret that question, but he had to know. He wanted to prepare himself for whatever earful she was about to give him about advancing on Gia. However, at least he could say that Gia made the first move.

"Am I supposed to be?"

"Yes? No… maybe?" he flailed his arms in bewilderment. "I don't know, you tell me!"

Emma rolled her eyes and looked at Gia with a smile. "I'm really happy for you. The both of you, actually." She then turned towards Jake with a glare. "But we're still going to be talking later."

"And there it is." Jake sighed, predicting that their future talk would be very long and uncomfortable. Knowing that Gia may have wanted to say a few things to Emma, Jake excused himself and left the room. He made sure to close the door and took off in order to find Noah. Naturally, Jake wanted his best friend to know about his kiss right away. All the rejection he faced in the past finally seemed worth it. He didn't know where exactly their relationship stood, but at least he knew that Gia returned some of his feelings.

After Jake left, Gia took this time to apologize to Emma. Talking to Jake helped her feel a lot better, but that didn't take away all of the guilt she felt. If she didn't get it off her chest now, then it would've bothered her for life.

Emma recognized the look Gia was giving and frowned. "I know what you're thinking, so don't you dare say that this is your fault."

"But I can't help but feel responsible!"

"None of this was your fault. The only person who blames you is well, you! It's just the life we live as rangers. It sucks, but it keeps the earth and its people protected."

"But…"

Emma groaned. "Gia, I don't blame you one bit. You know I would've done anything to make sure that you were okay, just like how you would've done the same thing for me. See," she pointed to herself and Gia. "You're okay, I'm okay, and our friends are all safe. The only person to blame is Vrak; he's the one that caused all of it anyways. Man, for someone who's so smart, you're really hard to get through sometimes."

"Okay I get it." Gia said, seeing that it was getting nowhere. "But I'm still going to be sorry."

"Fine," Emma rolled her eyes. "If saying it will make you feel better."

"Oh shit!" Gia suddenly jumped out of her char, remembering what had happened before Emma interrupted her moment with Jake. "I kissed Jake."

"Congratulations?"

"Does this mean we're boyfriend and girlfriend now?"

"I don't know." Emma shrugged her shoulders. She was slightly amused by her reaction, seeing that she never really saw this side of her friend before. Then again, this was also the first time where it seemed like Gia was really falling for a boy. "It's for you two to decide, not me."

"He's really grown on me." Gia admitted. Before, she got to know Jake she thought that he was just another jock who wanted to date a girl for the sake of having fun. When Jake started flirting with her, she immediately turned him down, hoping that he would leave her alone and find someone else. Instead, he accepted her decision and became friends with her. He was friendly and kind, but made sure to not cross any boundaries. No matter how many times Gia rejected Jake, he still kept chasing after her. Soon, she began to see that Jake was really just good guy with a kind heart. Over time, she started to return those same feelings.

"If nothing is holding you back, then I say go for it. If you can survive being a ranger couple, then you can survive anything."

"I'm surprised." Gia said. "I thought you would've given him a harder time before all of this happened."

"Who's to say I won't?"

"I'm sure you will." Gia laughed at the thought of Emma intimidating Jake. Most people would think that it would be silly to be afraid of someone like Emma, but those people didn't know her like she did. One time, a group of boys caught Emma searching through the grass for ladybugs during recess in elementary school. They thought it would be fun to tease her and called her names like crazy bug lady or queen of the flies. Of course, the young Emma took it to heart and began to tear up. Seeing that the boys made her cry, Gia stomped over to the group and began to beat on the boys for hurting Emma. However, one of the boys managed to grab Gia and pushed her down. Emma saw that action and immediately defended her friend. She got up and managed to take on the three boys to the point where they ran away in pain and fear. From the floor, Gia stared blankly at the sight of her friend doing something so brash. It was the first time Gia saw her get really angry. "But I'll leave you alone now so you can get more rest."

"Duh, I'll need it when I 'talk' to Jake." Emma smirked while climbing back into bed. "I'll be putting the terror in interrogate."

"Yeah, because the mellow pink ranger is oh so very scary." Gia said sarcastically.

"Hey! I can when I want to be!"

"Maybe you can morph so that your bright pink suit will blind him enough to get him to run away."

"Yellow isn't any better!

"But at least it's not pink."

"Getting me annoyed is just going to make this worse for Jake, you know." Emma frowned and crossed her arms.

"Oh, I know." Gia smirked. "I may like Jake, but that doesn't mean that I don't want to see him squirm a bit."

"I don't get you sometimes. First you're upset, then you're all lovey dovey, then you're upset, and once we finished those phases, you became all panicky. And now, you're just confusing!" Emma looked up to see Gia, but saw that she had already left the room. She groaned as she covered herself with the blanket.

"Stupid teenage hormones."

A/N: I apologize for not updating in a very long time. A few weeks ago, I had to get surgery done for my right hand (Bones were not where they were supposed) and had to make sure it got the needed rest in order for it to heal properly. Now, it's healed enough to the point where I can somewhat write, so updates should be a bit quicker. It might be a bit slow until my hand is completely healed, but they'll definitely be coming! Thanks so much for the patience and it'd be much appreciated if you left a review! I love hearing back from you guys!


	5. Combining Black and Yellow

Sweat dripped down Emma's face as she focused on keeping her forcefield up. After letting the rangers take time to recover, Gosei suggested that Gia and Emma practice using their newfound powers. Their unique abilities would benefit the entire team and give them the advantage they needed for their newest monster, Hisser. Emma could easily block the energy draining slime while the others focused on attacking the monster. Gia had already managed to get a good understanding of how her earth powers worked. To her, it seemed like using her Gosei power cards, minus the spandex. It didn't take long before she got a grip on it.

As for Emma, she was testing how long she could hold her forcefield by asking Gia to lift up massive boulders from the ground. Her goal was to keep the extremely heavy rocks from touching the ground for as long as possible. She knew that she couldn't afford to overexert herself, but she wanted to at least know her limit. After holding up the shield at full strength for a solid minute, she fell down to one knee and clutched her arm tightly. Every time she pushed herself too much, it resulted in sharp pains across both her arms.

Gravity caught up to the boulders and hit the ground with a loud thud. The girls were thankful that they were just outside the command center or else they were pretty sure that someone would've mistaken their training as an earthquake. Emma knew that she had enough and took a seat next to Gia.

"You good?" Gia asked. She saw that Emma was still cradling her arm and hoped that she hadn't pushed herself too much again.

"One minute." Emma groaned. "I can only last one minute before something happens."

"It's better than having Troy's abilities. He literally had the ability to dream." Gia teased. Troy had talked to the team about seeing a quick vision of the future. Because he had rescued Emma and Gia from the radioactive wasteland, he too was exposed to the radiation. He came up with this theory of having the temporary ability of precognition and it was soon approved by Tensou. Unless he was faking it, then there was no other real explanation to his odd recurring dreams. However, Troy was barely exposed to the radiation, resulting in only a few visions of the future. Once the small amount of radiation in his body faded away, his dreams went away as well. He claimed that there was going to be some big war, but it was hard for the others to believe. No one, not even Gosei, knew of an incoming alien armada. They all just assumed that it may have been his imagination playing up on him while under pressure.

"Ha ha, very funny." Emma pouted, growing impatient. "Why is it that you can literally lift the earth without breaking a sweat while I work my butt off just trying to hold up a bubble?"

"Simple," Gia smirked. "Because I'm awesome."

Before Emma could retaliate, they heard their morphers go off, signaling that the monster was back in the city. Both girls saw three colorful flashes leave the command center and followed their lead. The five teenagers spotted the monster wreaking havoc with its gooey purple slime.

"Go go Megaforce!" They yelled in unison, morphing into their respective colors.

Troy gave a slight nod to Emma, signaling that they were going to initiate their plan. While the others were on offense, Emma hung back and kept a careful eye on her teammates. Whenever the monster looked ready to spit on its venom, she would pull up her forcefield to make sure that they didn't get hit.

Troy started the assault, using his blade to earn a few swift swipes. He was used to fighting with his fists due to his years of martial arts experience, but he was starting to warm up to his dragon sword. The monster quickly backed away, causing Troy's hits to miss. However, Hisser didn't seem to notice that Gia and Jake were rapidly approaching him from behind. The two of them thrust their weapon into Hisser's back and grabbed his arms. Noah came in for a point blank headshot, but was stopped as the monster flailed its arms wildly. Noah was knocked off his feet while Gia and Jake were sent flying into a tree.

"Jake! Gia!" Troy yelled, running over to them to make sure they were okay.

The monster grinned maliciously as he decided to take full advantage of the blue ranger's position. He opened his mouth as the purple venom began to drip out. Noah closed his eyes and covered his face, thinking that he wouldn't be saved in time. He covered himself up as much as possible, waiting for the slime to hit him. Emma saw this and quickly formed a forcefield around him. The monster seemed unpleased by this and looked up.

"You again!" The monster hissed as he approached Emma. "You're the one who's been preventing me from getting my prey!"

Emma slowly backed away and summoned her phoenix shot. She attempted to shoot at the overgrown snake, but he kept dodging her attacks with ease. None of her shots were connecting.

Hisser merely laughed at Emma's attempt to shoot him down. "You think you can stop me with your little gun? I can slip passed any of your shots!"

"Try slipping through this!" Troy yelled, piercing his sword through the monster's chest, taking the advantage of the monster being distracted. After a few futile attempts of trying to get Troy's sword out of his body, the monster ultimately fell and exploded. Splatters of the monster's goo flung onto the rangers, causing everyone to wince. The monster's venom no longer had effect, but it was still gross.

"You okay?" Troy asked. Emma nodded her head and put her weapon away.

"Okay, now this is just disgusting." Gia said as she tried wiping off some of the purple gunk from her suit.

"If I didn't know any better, we would've all been purple rangers." Jake laughed as he looked around at his purple slime covered teammates.

"There's no such thing as a purple ranger." Noah pointed out. "Ranger colors have usually stuck to red, blue, pink, yellow, black, and sometimes green. I doubt there's going to be a purple one anytime soon."

"What about gold or silver?" Emma asked. "There have been gold and silver rangers in the past."

"Yeah, but they didn't come into the team until way later."

"Speaking of gold and silver rangers," Gia said. "When do you think we'll get ours? Every other team has had some sixth ranger, so doesn't that mean we'll get one?

"Sure would've been nice to have one right now." Troy grumbled, struggling to get some of the purple off his black suit.

Finally managing to get most of her suit clean, Gia demorphed and made her way to Jake. She touched his arm gently. "Can we talk?"

"Uh yeah, sure thing." he answered with a hint of hesitation in his voice. Jake gulped nervously. They hadn't spoken to each other since their kiss. He suddenly became worried that Gia would take it back, claiming that it was an all in the moment type of thing. He loved every moment he spent with her, but he wasn't sure how enjoyable this moment would be.

Before they left, he caught the death stare Emma gave him and became even more concerned. He immediately knew that this talk would go really good or really bad. They walked over to an isolated spot for privacy and sat on the grass. Gia looked up to him with a soft smile.

"So the kiss," Gia trailed. She struggled as she tried to find the right words to break the news. "I'm not sure… I'm don't know how to put this… Well, what I'm trying to say is…"

"Will you go out with me?" Jake blurted out. Almost immediately he winced, mad at himself for being so sudden and blunt. He thought that when he asked her out it would've been more romantic. Or actually, a lot more romantic. Yet here they were, both sweaty, tired, and in the middle of a newly destroyed street. They tried keeping damage to a minimum, but monster battles always got messy no matter what. He decided to just go with it. It was now or never. He had asked her out before, but they never had this type of chemistry. They had connected in a way that they had never done in the past. Maybe he had a chance this time.

Both of them blushed deeply before Gia broke the silence with her reply. "Yes."

"Wait, really?" His eyes widened in disbelief and a huge grin appeared on his face. He didn't want to go out with Gia just for the sake of dating. He wanted to be the one to care for her in her times of need. He wanted to be by her side so she would know that she was never alone. He wanted to treat her the way she deserved to be treated. He wanted to be the one to protect her. He wanted to make her smile. He wanted to become the man she dreamed of.

"I kissed you earlier, what did you think I would say?" Gia chuckled. Gia herself admitted to being nervous and felt relieved that Jake popped the question before she did. She had no idea how she was going to bring it up or how she would ask. She was just glad that she didn't have to be the one to say it. Gia nestled into Jake's arms, happy with the choice she made. She felt so safe and secure with him. She didn't want him to let go.

From afar, Emma saw Gia and Jake cuddling and figured their relationship was official. Gia had already talked about it with her, so she saw something like this coming up. Boredom overcame her so she decided to have a little bit of fun. She let the two have a few more moments together before crashing it.

"I promise to never let you go." Jake said, kissing the top of Gia's head. "Now, we'll make an even better team."

"So cheesy." Emma suddenly appeared behind them, squeezing herself in between the new couple. She snapped a picture of the three of them and then looked at the picture. In the photo, Gia and Jake were looking at her with a face of both shock and embarrassment. Meanwhile, Emma was in the middle, smiling brightly. After seeing Gia and Jake's reaction, she knew that she would have to act fast before they teamed up against her to delete it. She quickly saved it into her memory card and ran off She was happy for the both of them, but that didn't mean that she wasn't going to mess around with them for a while, especially Jake. A few steps behind her were Noah and Troy, both whom were chuckling slightly.

"And," Jake sighed. "Moment ruined."


End file.
